Dead Mech by Jake Bible

sir.”
    “Sir, if I may?” Themopolous
interrupted.
    “Yes, Doctor?”
    “In my professional opinion, I think Pilot
Capreze would do better catching a ride back to base in the
transport. Just to be safe.”
    “I’m fine,” Rachel said quickly.
    “For now, but I’d hate to have you
relapse.”
    Rachel crossed her arms, setting her feet
firmly. Capreze noted his daughter’s stance.
    “Understood, Doctor. But, I think a
walk is just what she needs.”
    ***
    The Rookie stood and stretched as the train
came to a halt. He looked at his bloodied hands and broken
fingernails, barely believing what he’d just been through. His body
was exhausted, but his mind raced, going over and over the mock
attack.
    The pilot and co-pilot had called back on
the com when the test was over to congratulate him on a job well
done. They both said they hadn’t seen anyone figure out how to get
out of the train car that fast before. Ever.
    The car door opened and the Rookie
confidently stepped out onto the platform.
    ***
    Stanislaw’s voice echoed through Bisby’s
fatigued brain. He shook his head violently, trying to dislodge the
ghostly murmurs.
    “You okay, Biz?” June asked, placing a hand
on his elbow as they walked back to base.
    Bisby didn’t answer as he glanced sideways
at her, his haunted eyes rimmed with dark circles. She squeezed his
arm.
    “Of course you’re not. Sorry. Everyone’s
right, I do say stupid stuff all the time,” June said. “I’m here,
though, if you need to talk.”
    Bisby smiled wanly and patted June’s hand.
She smiled back and let Bisby move on ahead, giving him his
space.
    ***
    “Looks like a funeral,” the train’s pilot
said, stepping past the Rookie.
    “I wonder what happened,” the Rookie mused
aloud, shielding his eyes from the sun, trying to see into the
distance.
    “Someone died, genius,” the co-pilot
quipped. “Happens a lot out here in the waste.”
    The Rookie turned to the co-pilot. “Mostly
mech drivers?”
    “Pilots, boy. They are pilots. You get
caught calling them drivers and it’ll be your corpse getting
grilled out there.”
    “Right, pilots. But, is it? Mostly mech
pilots that die?”
    “Listen kid, you need to learn that Death is
everyone’s bunkmate out in the waste.”
    ***
    “Probably not the best day for a Rookie to
arrive,” Capreze said walking arm in arm with Rachel.
    “I disagree. It’s probably the best day for
him to arrive. No illusions as to what it’s like out here,” Rachel
responded. They walked along in silence for a moment, Rachel
kicking stones with her boots, the Commander staring at the base,
his base, lost in thought.
    “Have any idea who you want to mentor the
Rookie?” Rachel asked, knowing it wasn’t the most appropriate thing
to say, but she couldn’t take the silence anymore.
    “Yep.”
    “And...?”
    “You, Baby Girl.”
    Rachel nodded.
    ***
    “Good luck, kid,” the pilot said, shaking
the Rookie’s hand.
    “You’re not staying?”
    “Nope,” the co-pilot answered, shaking the
Rookie’s hand as well. “We’re all fueled up. As soon as they all
clear off, we’ll be gone.” The co-pilot motioned towards the group
coming up the tracks. “We’ve got two days of wasteland to cover.
The sooner, the better.”
    “Two?” the Rookie asked. “It took four.”
    The pilot laughed. “The test was four. The
trip was two. Better get used to things not being what they seem
out here.”
    “Thanks, I will,” the Rookie muttered as the
train’s door shut.
    ***
    The Rookie watched from the train platform
as the base crew slowly walked back up the tracks, smoke from the
pyre reaching towards the sky behind them.
    The first pilot to reach him was Bisby and
the Rookie stepped off the platform, hand outstretched.
    “Hey, there I’m-,” but his greeting was cut
short by Bisby’s right fist connecting with his jaw. The world spun
and the Rookie took a header to the ground.
    “I don’t give a FUCK what your name is
Rookie!”